Medicaid agency posts hospital financial data in South Carolina

Price transparency got a boost in South Carolina yesterday, when the state's Medicaid agency put financial data for 60 acute-care S.C. hospitals on its website--showing a wide disparity in their financial health. Director Tony Keck told the Associated Press he wanted "legislators and the public to have access to the information as the debate over whether to expand Medicaid eligibility under the federal health care law moves to the Senate." The spreadsheets show the hospitals posted a combined profit of $2.6 billion from 2008 to 2011, while rural hospitals suffered losses, WLTX of South Carolina reported. Article